Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda traipsed the red carpet in their best designer frocks last night when Sex and the City: the Movie had its world premiere in London's Leicester Square.

Screaming fans were out in force to greet the stars of the hit TV series adaptation - Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon - as they walked on a red carpet sprinkled with sparkles.

But many could not help but wonder why the world premiere took place in London rather than New York, which is often referred to as "the fifth character" in the series. "We decided to have it here and we're delighted to be here," said a diplomatic Parker, wearing a pale green Alexander McQueen creation.

Early reviews were, on the whole, rather mixed.

"Fans of the series will lap this film up. It was coarse, sentimental, and outrageously materialistic - just as we hoped and expected it would be," reckoned Celia Walden in The Daily Telegraph, who had some gripes with the extensive product placement in the movie. "In the first half-hour we're bombarded by so much brand placement that one might as well be witnessing an extended Vogue photo shoot brought to life."

Meanwhile, Will Pavia at the Times felt he might have too much testosterone to watch this film. "There may be a problem with stretching Sex and the City into a two hour and 20 minute film - it can feel like a never-ending dinner party: however pleasant the courses, after a while you can hardly eat another one," he writes, giving the film two out of five stars. "None of these problems seemed apparent to the women who sat around me in the cinema in Leicester Square, laughing and weeping in quick succession. After a while I began to reason like one of the characters: maybe the problem was me."

The Sun's (male) Sneak previewer seemed to agree: Kim Cattrall as sex-mad Samantha may steal all the big laughs with the help of a humping dog and a hunky neighbour, but "two hours spent with four air-kissing women might tire out most men".